Academy of Fine Arts Museum in Krakow

What to expect

The Academy of Fine Arts Museum in Krakow tells the story of Poland’s oldest art academy, founded in 1818. Set up as a university-wide unit in 2003, it holds close to 6,000 works: paintings, drawings, textiles, sculpture and design. The collection includes pieces by Jan Matejko, Jacek Malczewski, Stanisław Wyspiański, Andrzej Wróblewski and the film director Andrzej Wajda, most of them donated by artists connected to the academy over the years.

This is a small, intimate university museum rather than a large gallery, so set expectations accordingly. It has one modest room for temporary exhibitions drawn from the collection. In summer 2026 (May to August) the show is “Student Andrzej Wajda”, presenting works the future filmmaker made while studying at the Krakow academy between 1946 and 1949. It is a worthwhile stop for anyone interested in Polish art history, but on its own it is a short visit rather than a half-day museum.

Visiting in practice

The museum occupies Room 119 on the first floor of the academy’s main building, completed in 1879. It is open Tuesday to Friday from 9:00 to 16:00 and closed at weekends and on Mondays. Admission is free. Allow about half an hour. Because the display is small and rotates, it is worth checking the academy’s website for the current exhibition before you go, and English-language labelling may be limited.

Getting there

The museum sits at plac Jana Matejki 13, on the northern edge of the Old Town, facing the Grunwald Monument and just beyond the Barbican and St Florian’s Gate. From the Main Square it is about a ten-minute walk up Floriańska Street. Plac Matejki adjoins the transport hub by Basztowa Street and the main railway station, so trams and trains stop right nearby.

Nearby

A few steps away on Floriańska Street is Matejko House, the studio home of the academy’s patron. Toward the square you reach the Czartoryski Museum with Leonardo’s Lady with an Ermine, and on the square itself the Sukiennice Gallery of 19th-century Polish painting, including canvases by Matejko and Malczewski.